When I was a sophomore in high school I was chosen to go on a service immersion to Browning, Montana which is home to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The goal of the immersion was to tutor young kids in low income areas who were struggling with academics. After a 14 hour train ride through the barren Washington, Idaho, and Montana countryside, my service group finally arrived at the Blackfeet school. The first day of school I was assigned to the 4th grade classroom where I would assist the teacher and help students with questions and homework.As soon as I entered the classroom, I witnessed kids running and jumping on desks, yelling, cursing, and doing everything directly opposite of learning. I was stunned, to say the least. I quickly determined that the majority of these young students had no desire to learn or excel in school—they were simply at school so they would stay out of trouble during the day time. With the kids not paying attention to the teacher and constantly disrespecting her, I became frustrated with the immersion and it was only the first day.
The third day of the immersion came along and I was given the opportunity to help kids with homework, 1 on 1 style. When the teacher announced this, my heart immediately started pumping fast because I knew I was terrible with controlling kids and had never tutored anyone—especially not rowdy and rebellious children. With my immense luck, I was assigned to the biggest trouble maker in class, Travis. When we arrived at the school library, I was expecting Travis to start yelling or throwing books across the room, but as I sat down next to him, he acted different. Much different. He was calm, determined, and focused. He diligently began completing his homework and needed very little of my assistance. I remember asking myself, “What the hell did I do to make this happen?!” And suddenly it occurred to me that the reason Travis and his classmates were acting poorly was because they wanted attention. They wanted someone to give them encouragement and to observe the work they were excelling in. With 25 kids in a classroom, it was difficult for the teacher to give each student individualized attention.
After researching more about Browning, Montana, I discovered that most families were well below the poverty line and high school dropout rates were sky rocketing. The town had a weak economy, high unemployment, and provided kids with little to look forward to. After speaking with some of the kids, I found out that many of their parents did not emphasize an importance on school and offered little support to their children in school.
Once I learned more about the kids’ lifestyles and culture of the town, my viewpoint on the students shifted because I recognized that they actually understood the school material quite well; however, with no one to appreciate their hard work, effort, and struggle they put into their schoolwork, there was little motivation for the kids to concentrate and excel in school.
-Jacob Pesek